That he landed on the crew of Apollo 15, the fourth Apollo mission to land on the moon, was even sort of a surprise to Worden, who was the oldest son and second oldest overall of Merrill and Helen Worden’s six children.

“I sure didn’t know that’s what I’d do,” Worden said. “I didn’t even know I wanted to fly until I went to West Point.”

Worden’s father, nicknamed “Tiny,” was a movie projectionist at the Michigan Theatre. The family lived on a 10-acre farm and Worden attended Dibble School, not the one on Kibby Road, but the one-room schoolhouse that’s now part of the Ella Sharp Museum.

Numerous Citizen Patriot articles throughout the years describe him as a clean cut, considerate, intelligent, candid, happy-go-lucky and imaginative. His sisters said he made the best peanut butter fudge they’d ever tasted.

And Worden could play piano. At Jackson High School he was a member of the dance band. With four other friends, he formed a Polish dance band that played weddings and parties all over town.

“Those were good times,” Worden said. “I enjoyed all the students my age that I ran around with.”

Worden, Citizen Patriot articles say, was popular in high school. He had an old roadster with a rumble seat that he worked on constantly to keep it running. He was president of the Jackson High School student body.

And he knew he wanted to go to college.

With six kids, I knew my parents couldn’t afford to shell out the money,” Worden said. “I needed a scholarship.”

Peek Through TimeIf you would like to suggest a notable person, place or event from the past for this weekly feature, please contact reporter Leanne Smith at 262-0720 or lsmith12@mlive.com. To see more of these stories, check out the archive.

After graduating from Jackson High School in 1950, he got a one-year scholarship to the University of Michigan. He then applied for and received a congressional appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

After graduating in 1955, Worden took a U.S. Air Force commission and became an Air Defense Command pilot with the 95th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.

Worden earned master of science degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963. He graduated from Britain’s Empire Test Pilot School in 1964.

Then the lure of America’s burgeoning space program drew Worden in. In 1965 he graduated from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. a school that created space pilots.

A year later, Worden was one of 19 new astronauts picked from a field of 351 applicants to join NASA.

“I guess it was an urge to go higher and faster,” Worden said about his decision to become an astronaut in a1966 Citizen Patriot article.

After hearing the news, Worden’s proud mother told the newspaper the family might have to give up the name they’d called Worden for years.

“We’re going to need to start calling him Al from now on,” she said. “Sonny just doesn’t seem to fit anymore.”

In 1969, Worden was a member of the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 9 flight and backup command module pilot for the Apollo 12 flight.

In 1971, he joined Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin on the Apollo 15 mission, America’s ninth manned space mission. Worden was the command module pilot.

Jackson family and friends traveled to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. to see the 9:34 a.m. Apollo 15 launch on July 26, 1971.

At the time, NASA called the 12-day mission the most successful manned flight ever because of its scientific nature. The crew studied the lunar surface and environment in great detail with what were then hi-tech cameras and equipment.

Worden conducted experiments while the lunar module orbited and his teammates worked on the surface of the moon.

“In space, the earth is such a small object,” Worden said. “It changes your ideas about what the earth is like when you see it that way.”

Worden also performed the first-of-its-kind spacewalk in deep space to retrieve film from cameras in the scientific instrument module.

“When I first opened the hatch, of course, I was really excited,” Worden told the Citizen Patriot later. “My heartbeat showed that. And that was pure excitement, not physical exertion.”

Jackson threw Worden a homecoming parade during Labor Day weekend in 1971 that included salutes from low-flying jets, specially written skits, aerial displays, fireworks and entertainment at the Cascades and Michigan International Speedway.

During the festivities, Worden was quoted as saying, “I left from United States soil on July 26, 1971 as an American. I returned to earth on Aug. 7, 1971 as an earthling, and I return to Jackson today as a Jacksonian.”

In his pocket during the Apollo 15 mission, Worden carried a block letter J taken from a Jackson High School flag. In October 1971, he returned it to the school along with pictures from the mission. They hang there today.

Worden told students, “One of the best things that ever happened to me was attending Jackson High School. It was here that I acquired a thirst for knowledge. And if I can leave you with one thought, that’s it. Go out and get an education. It’s a tough world out there.”

After that Worden became a test pilot at the Ames Research Center, a NASA facility at Mountain View, Calif. He left NASA in 1975 but continued to work in the aerospace and aviation industries. He has since become a poet and author of three books.

“It was a wonderful career,” Worden said of being an astronaut. “Given the chance, I’d do it again.”

Tidbits

• Al Worden’s siblings are Sally, Carolyn, James, Jerry and Peter. His sisters still live in the Jackson area.

• While Worden was at West Point, the movie “The Long Gray Line,” starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O’Hara, was filmed there. He had a part in it as Gen. Omar Bradley as he received his diploma.

• Worden was Jackson’s second astronaut. James McDivitt, a Jackson Junior College graduate, was its first. He was commander of Gemini 4 and Apollo 9 missions.